#CreateWelcome week

16 – 30 June 2017

#CreateWelcome Week is a worldwide series of diverse cultural events – an opportunity to celebrate the cultural contribution of Brisbane’s multicultural communities – many of whom are from refugee backgrounds.

Brisbane City Council (BCC) and MDA (Multicultural Development Australia) are celebrating World Refugee Week 2017 with their series of colourful #CreateWelcome Week events held throughout Brisbane city from 16 – 30 June 2017.

Since 2008, BCC has provided funding to MDA to celebrate World Refugee Week, aiming to ensure Brisbane is a city where residents from refugee backgrounds can feel welcome and contribute. #CreateWelcome Week recognises the valuable cultural contribution to our community by people from diverse backgrounds.

Brisbane organisations and community groups, led by MDA’s Welcome Hub network and supported by Queensland Government through the CAMS programme, will host a myriad of events across the city and suburbs – including Iftar Dinners, picnics, storytelling sessions, a special ‘Poems for Peace’ World music concert in the city, with spoken word and dance, fashion displays, cultural lunches, cross-cultural conversations and story telling at five libraries in Brisbane.

#CreateWelcome Week has a strong cross-cultural aspect, reminding us that all cultures practice the same human rituals but with subtly different and beautiful approaches – whether it be welcoming new people, cooking, music, dance, fashion, storytelling or sharing our traditions.

Poems for PeaceA special world music concert in Reddacliff Place Brisbane city, to coincide with World Refugee Day worldwide. The vibrant program includes cultural music, spoken word and dance, as well as the unique Eritrean Coffee Ceremony.

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Acknowledgement of Traditional Custodians

MDA (Multicultural Development Australia) acknowledges the traditional custodians of all the lands on which we meet, work and live. We recognise that this land has always been Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander land and always will be.

We pay our respects to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders – past, present and emerging – and recognise the immense cultural and linguistic strength and diversity that has existed on this land for tens of thousands of years.

Every day, we work to welcome new Australians from across the world. As we do this, we acknowledge the history and current realities of our First Nations people and understand our individual and collective responsibility towards the achievement of justice, equality and reconciliation.

The MDA community, and the multicultural communities we work closely with, realise that understanding the past helps us shape a better future for all. We commit to learning from the knowledge, traditions, stories, spirituality and experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

We, who come from many places, acknowledge the welcome offered to us by the traditional custodians of this land, the world’s oldest living culture. We express our desire for deeper connection with Australia’s First Nations people, as we learn to live on their land.

MDA respects and values Australia’s First Nations peoples’ enormous resilience, courage, determination and often unrecognised contributions to the country’s social and economic development. We walk together in solidarity, in the shared pain of the past and the shared hope for the future.